Coi Restaurant Review - June 18, 2007 BunRabs Home Yummy Chow Home

Coi
373 Broadway
San Francisco, CA
415.393.9000

www.coirestaurant.com

Avec Moi? C'est Coi

 

What kind of odor-eater sniffs out non-scentsical experiences? Not me. When I want some therapy I follow the aroma to Coi.

You coyly pronounce it “Kwah” like you were French and wanted to say, “what?”
This intimate restaurant is conveniently located a couple doors down from Centerfolds in case you like to loosen your belt after your  meal.

Service: friendly and efficient. Great sommelier with enthusiasm and interest in his craft. He came up with fantastic suggestions for wine pairings and had a great bottle-side manner.

Atmosphere: The lounge area is for a la carte dining and the cool, minimalist diningroom is for tasting menu ingestion. Suits and biz casual are equally represented.
Chilled parsnip soup with walnuts. This amuse of a shotglass of cold liquid and spoon of solids primed our saliva glands for some disappointingly, limp crusted Della Fattoria bread. I’m not sure what was up with the DF loaf (we usually like their goods.) This did not prevent us from noticing the butter which they churn on site and serve with Maldon salt.

We were instructed to dab a bit of the plated cologne on our wrist before filling our pie holes with citrus to properly experience this interplay of aromatic and tongueomatic elements.

Pristinely sectioned, pink, peppered, grapefruit was scented with tarragon and ginger in this sensicaloric course. Girly? Yes. Maybe they can add a macho option in which you kill something and rub its entrails on your face before eating your grapefruit.

Roasted beets with goat cheese are a nice earthy match of flavors. The citrus sorbet reset our mouths between bites of the root veg and Adante Dairy richness.
There were nice crispy bits on the shell of the marrow bone and beet gelee capped off with some osetra caviar. This was a fun and unexpected combo of surf, turf and sub turf
Asparagus was served two ways both cooked and raw with a dot of meyer lemon sabayon.
Kampachi sashimi was delectable with yuzu and spices.
Carrot raviolo was a bunrab friendly dish. Beneath the foamy bubbles lied a rooty, Indian-spiced packet.
The artichoke and leek soup with blood orange had tang and earthiness.
Tofu skin papparadelle fell flat with a bland, monotone of flavor and aroma. The nasturtiums and favas sank into the soylence in this lackluster concoction.
Ricotta pudding masqueraded as a spotted dick with peas taking the place of currants in this truffled dome.
Japanese seabass was extremely tasty although a little too cooked for my taste. Tatsoi and turnips gave root and shoot support to this saged fish.
45 minutes sounds like a long time to cook an egg, but when it's slow and low the results can be delish. Morels are hidden in a broth beneath some beaten spuds and ramp foam.
Vanilla scented duck breast with foie gras, braised Belgian endive had a hibiscus moat to balance out the richness of this ducky dish.
Pecorino was happily paired with pink pearl apple
Vanilla cake arrived warm with strawberries and an olive oil gumdrop comet.
We were instructed to down a shotglass of mandarin soda with juniper berry gelee in one gulp. It was a refreshing hazingesque moment sans humiliation or a "hi Bob" cue.
Valrhona chocolate parfait had cucumber ice milk and lime had a nice interplay of light and heavy.
Vietnamese coffee milkshake with a pb&j cupcake was okay, but I felt that the choco' cuke dessert was a tricky act to successfully follow.

 

Two and a half carrots out of four

I like Coi for its inventive playfulness. The dishes were mostly hits and you don't have to throw your tip on the rail like they do at the establishments down the street.

 

"Great!"


Coi Bathroom Rating


The eye catching element to these clean and well stocked coish-rooms is the river rocks in the sink

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